G.S.R No. 1499/78- In exercise of the
powers conferred by section 4 and section 7 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of
1885), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules for the conduct of wireless
telegraphs in the amateur service, established, maintained, and worked by persons licenced
under the said Act.

1. Short title and commencement (1) These rules may be called the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service)
Rules, 1978. (2) They shall come into force on the 1st January, 1979.2. Definitions In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires- (a) Act means the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885);

(b) Amateur service means
a service of self training, inter-communication and technical investigations carried on by
amateurs that is, by persons duly authorized under these rules interested in radio
technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest; amateur
station, and station shall have the meaning respectively assigned to
them in the Convention;

(c) Convention means the
International Telecommunication Convention, Malaga-Torremolinos, 1973, for the time being
in force and the Radio Regulations and the Additional / Radio Regulations annexed thereto
but does not include any portion of the said Convention or Regulations regarding which the
Central Government makes any reservation;

(d) Licence means a
licence granted under section 4 of the Act for an amateur wireless telegraph station.

3. Necessity for licence

No persons shall establish, maintain
and work an amateur wireless telegraph station, except under and in accordance with the
terms and conditions of an appropriate licence under these rules.

4. Categories of licence

There shall be five categories of
licences, namely :

(i) Advanced Amateur Wireless
telegraph Station Licence

(ii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph
Station Licence, Grade - I

(iii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph
Station Licence, Grade - II

(iv) Restricted Amateur Wireless
Telegraph Station Licence

(v) Short Wave Listener's Amateur
Wireless Telegraph Station Licence.

5. Eligibility for Licence

(1) A licence may be granted subject
to such conditions contained in Annexure I to these rules

(i) to a person-

(a) who is a citizen of India;

(b) who is not less that 18 years of
age;

(c) who qualifies the Amateur Station Operator's Examination for the award of
licence or holds either of the following certificate of proficiency, namely:

(i) Radio-communication
Operators General Certificates;

(ii)First or Second Class Telegraph
Operators Certificates:

Provided that the holder of a Special
Radio Telegraph Operator's Certificate may also be considered eligible for the award of
Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade II.

(iii) To a bonafide amateur radio society, club, a school, college, institute or
university in India, which has the aim of participating in the 'amateur service':

Provided that the licence shall be
issued in the name of an authorized official of the society, club, school, college,
institute or university in India, holding a category of licence appropriate to the
transmission to be conducted by the station, including amateur radio beacon transmissions.

(2) Notwithstanding anything
contained in sub-clause (b) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1), the central government may
grant, to bonafide experimenters between the ages of 14 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless
telegraph Station Licence, Grade I and to those between the ages of 12 and 18, Amateur
Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade II or Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph
Station Licence or Short Wave Listeners' Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence:

Provided that the application for the
grant of such licences shall be accompanied by a certificate from the head of the
educational institution, recognized by a board or university in India, attended by the
applicant or from his legal guardian that the applicant is interested in and competent to
conduct experiment in wireless telegraphy.

(3) Notwithstanding anything
contained in sub-clause (c) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1), the Central Government may
recognize, subject to any conditions it may prescribe from time to time, such other
Radiotelegraph Operators Certificates or Amateur Station Operators Certificate
as are issued by a competent authority in India or any other country as equivalent to
qualifications referred to in aforesaid sub-rule, for the purpose of grant of a licence
under those rules.

6. Application for licence

(a) an individual, or

(b) an amateur radio society or club
or a school, college or an institute or an university in India

-shall be made to the central
government in Annexure II or Annexure III respectively to these rules, together with all
the subsidiary forms and documents duly filled in and completed in all respects.

7. Eligibility for admission to
Amateur Station Operator's Examination

No person shall be eligible for
admission to an examination for the grant of licence unless-

(a) such a person fulfils the
provisions contained in sub-clause (a) of clause (i) of sub-rule (1) and either sub-clause
(b) of clause (i) of sub-rule (i) or sub-rule (2) of rule 5;

(b) such person pays the fees on the
following scale, namely:

(i) Advanced Amateur Station
Operator's Examination Rs. 25.00

(ii) Amateur Station Operator's Grade
I Examination Rs. 20.00

(ii) Amateur Station Operator's Grade
II Examination and

Restricted Wireless Telegraph Station
Examination Rs. 10.00

(c) a period of at least one month
has elapsed since he last appeared in an examination and failed.

8. Examinations

(1) The examinations* for the grant
of a licence shall be held at a place** and on a date as may be notified by the Central
Government from time to time.

(2) An application for licence in
Annexure II to the rules shall be submitted not later than the 15th of the month preceding
that in which it is desired to take the examination.

(3) Any person admitted to the
examination and found guilty of impersonation or of submitting fabricated documents or
documents which have been tampered with or of making statements which are incorrect or
false or of suppressing material information or of using or attempting to use unfair means
in the examination hall or otherwise resorting to any other irregular or improper means
for obtaining admission to the examination may, in addition to rendering himself liable to
criminal prosecution, be debarred either permanently or for a specified period from
appearing in any of the examinations held for the award of licence under these rules:

Provided that no order under this
sub-rule shall be made unless the person concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity
for making a representation against the action proposed to be taken.

(4) If any person is found guilty of
any malpractice referred to in sub-rule (3) after the grant of a licence to such person,
the central government may, in addition to prosecuting him cancel the licence so given:

Provided that the central government
may, pending the cancellation of the licence, suspend or endorse such licence:

Provided further that no order under
this sub-rule shall be made unless the person concerned has been given a reasonable
opportunity for making a representation against the action proposed to be taken.

9. Grant of Licence

Every category of licence shall be in
the form set out in Annexure III to these rules.

10. Observance of conditions of
licence, Convention and rules under the Act

(1) Every licenced amateur wireless
telegraph station shall be established, maintained and worked in accordance with:

(a) the conditions contained in
Annexure I to these rules;

(b) the provisions of the convention;

(c) the rules made by the central
government under section 7 of the Act for the conduct of wireless telegraphs in so far as
they are applicable.

(2)Notwithstanding sub-rule (1) the
central Government may modify, vary, cancel or revoke any of the conditions of licence
contained in the said Annexure I at any time either by specific notice in writing to the
licencee, or by means of a general notice published in the Official Gazette or in a
newspaper published in New Delhi.

(3) The licencee shall at his own
expense, give effect to any variations in the conditions of licence,

11. Period of validity

A licence granted under these rules
shall be issued for a period of 2 years or 5 years, as the case may be, commencing on the
date of issue of the licence and expiring on the last day of the month preceding the month
of issue.

12. Fee for licence

(1) A licence fee on the following
scale shall be paid to the central government on receipt of instructions from that
Government and in the manner directed by it -

The licence fee shall not be
refundable on ground of licensee's inability to establish or make use of the licensed
amateur wireless telegraph station or for adjustments towards higher category of licence.

(2) No holder of a licence shall be
entitled to a refund of fees paid therefore on the ground of his inability to establish or
make use of the licensed amateur station.

13. Authorized frequency bands, power
and emission

A holder of licence shall use, as
appropriate to the licence, such frequency bands, power and classes of emission as are set
out in Annexure V of these rules:

Provided that the central government
may by special or general order make changes in the usage of frequency bands, power and
types of emission where that Government is satisfied, that it is expedient to do so
keeping in view, among others, the provisions of the convention need for enforcement of
better technical standards in respect of equipment and national and international radio
interference pattern.

14. Renewal of licence

(1) On the expiry of the validity of
a licence, it may be renewed for a period of two or five years, as the case may be, if the
licencee-

(a) makes an application for renewal,
not earlier than 2 months but before the date of expiry;

(b) has actively operated an amateur
wireless telegraph station during the validity of his licence and provides a certificate
to the effect that he has made contacts with other amateur stations on at least 40
occasions per year, and in case of short wave listener, has intercepted amateur station on
at least 40 occasions per year;

(2) The licence fee shall not be
refundable on ground of licensee's inability to establish or make use of the licensed
amateur wireless telegraph station or for adjustments towards higher category of licence.

(3) The document showing the renewal
of licence issued by the central government shall be kept along with the licence to which
it refers.

(4) It shall not be obligatory for
the central government to issue a notice that the licence is due for renewal.

15. Surcharge for late
renewal

In case the holder of licence does
not apply for its renewal prior to the date of expiry of the licence referred to in
sub-rule (1) of rule 14, he may apply for the renewal of licence subsequently also but
within a period of two years after the date of expiry of the licence on payment of a
surcharge at the rate of Rs. 10/- for every half year or part thereof. The licence in such
a case, shall be renewed from the date of expiry of licence.

16. Register for wireless
telegraphy apparatus

Every licensee shall maintain a
register in respect of all wireless telegraphy apparatus established, maintained and
worked by him at the amateur station in the form set out in Annexure VI of these rules.

17. Location of Amateur
Station

The location of the amateur station
shall be specified in the licence along with the usual residence of the licensee endorsed
therein and it shall be operated only from the pace so fixed.

Provided that the central government
may permit the change of location if the licensee applies for it in writing giving
particulars of the change and submits the licence for endorsement, and pays a fee of
rupees five.

18. Portable and mobile
amateur station

The central government may in
addition to an amateur station licensed for a specified location issue a special
authorization to establish, maintain and work an amateur station as a mobile station
installed on board a motor vehicle or as a portable station or for the purpose of
exhibiting the operation of amateur station at jamborees or for specific technical
investigations in radio if -

(i) Application for such
authorization is made at least 10 weeks in advance indicating, amongst other, the period
for which the authorization is required, area of operation and the purpose;

(ii) The applicant holds an Advanced
Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence or an Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station
Licence Grade I;

(iii) The applicant pays an
additional fee of Rs. 10.

(2) The special authorization shall,
in addition to the conditions specified in rule 10, be subject to conditions, namely:

(i) The special authorization shall
not be issued for a period more than 90 days and may be extended for a further period of
90 days on request and on payment of fee of Rs.10/-;.

(ii) The licencee's amateur station
at the fixed location and the mobile station shall not communicate with each other;

(iii) The suffix MO shall
be added to the call-sign already authorized to the licensee, such call-sign shall be
followed by the location of the station;

(iv) such other conditions as the
central government may determine from time to time.

(3) The special authorization may be
withdrawn or the conditions contained therein varied at any time by the central
government.

19. Amateur Station on board
ship

(1) Without prejudice to rule 17, the
central government may on receipt of an application authorize establishment, maintenance
and working of an amateur station on board a ship registered in India. Applications for
such authorization shall be accompanied by a written approval of the master or owner of
the ship concerned.

(2) The establishment, maintenance
and working of amateur station on board ships shall, in addition to the conditions
specified under rule 10, be subject to such other conditions as the central government may
determine from time to time and such conditions, among others, shall include the
following, namely:

(i) The amateur station on board ship
shall be operated only while the ship is in international waters or Indian territorial
waters. Its operation within the territorial waters of another country shall be in
conformity with laws and regulations of the country concerned.

(ii) It shall not be operated whilst
the ship is in any harbour in India;

(iii)The call-sign allotted to such
stations shall have suffix MS followed by the call-sign of the ships in case
of radiotelegraphy official name of the ship in case of radiotelephony.

(iv)The amateur station on board a
ship shall be independent of ship radio communication, radio navigation and other safety
services radio equipment and shall be operated in such a manner as not to cause harmful
interference to these services of the ship. The amateur station shall have source of
electrical energy independent of the ship station and shall also be electrically
independent of it.

(v) The amateur station on board a
ship shall discontinue operation at any time on request of an officer of the central
government, the master or radio officer of the ship or any land station.

20. Loss and Issue of
Duplicate of Licence and Document showing the Renewal of Licence

(1) A person whose Licence or the
document showing the renewal of licence has been lost, mutilated or destroyed shall notify
the same to the central government. An application in Annexure VII of these rules for the
duplicate shall be made to the central government embodying a statement of the
circumstances involved in the loss, mutilation or destruction of the licence or the
document showing the renewal of licence for which a duplicate is required. If the licence
or the document showing the renewal of licence has been lost, the applicant must state the
circumstances in which it was lost and that reasonable search has been made for it, and
further that in the event it be found, either the original or the duplicate shall be
returned for cancellation. The mutilated licence or the document showing the renewal of
licence for which the duplicate is required should be forwarded along with the application
for cancellation.

(2) The central government may issue
duplicate copy of any licence or the document showing the renewal of the licence and the
following charges shall be levied for such issue:

(i) For duplicate of licence - Rs. 10

(ii) For duplicate of the document
showing the renewal of licence- Rs. 5

21. Revocation of licence

(1) The central government may, at
any time, revoke the licence-

(i) On the breach of any of the
conditions of licence contained in

Annexure I; or

(ii) In default of payment of any
fees payable under these rules;

Provided that, before revoking a
licence, the licensee shall be given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation
against the action proposed to be taken.

(2) The licensee shall not be
entitled to any compensation arising out of revocation of his licence nor will any part of
the fees paid for the licence shall be refunded for the period a licence stands revoked.

22. Transfer of licence

A licence shall not be transferable:

Provided that the central government
may permit the transfer of a licence granted to an authorized official of an amateur radio
society or club or a school, college or an institute or an university in India in favour
of his successor if such successor holds a category of licence appropriate to the
transmissions to be conducted by the amateur station.

23. Operation of licenced
amateur station

No person other than the licensee
shall be permitted to operate the licensed amateur station:

Provided that -

(a) In the presence of the licensee
himself, the station may be operated by another person holding a valid licence of
comparable or higher category. The licensee, however, shall be personally responsible for
the observance of these rules as if he operates the station.

(b) In case of a licence issued to an
authorized official of an amateur radio society, club, school, college, institute or
university in India, the station may be operated by-

a person who holds a licence equivalent or of higher
category;

a person who holds a lower category of licence, where
he operates the station on the frequency bands, emissions and power allocated to his
category.

In each of
the cases aforesaid the licensee shall be responsible for the observance of this rule.

24. Surrender of licence

A licence which is revoked or which
has become invalid and licensee does not desire to renew it shall be surrendered to the
central government for cancellation and record.

25. Dual holding of licence

No person shall be granted more than
one licence at the same time:

Provided that the central government
may exempt a person, holding a licence is his name for amateur radio society or a school,
college or an institute or an university in India, from the operation of this rule.

26. Admission of foreign nationals in
examination and grant of licence

(1) Notwithstanding anything
contained in these rules the central government may, subject to such terms and conditions
as it may impose from time to time, admit a person, who is not a citizen of India, to an
examination for the grant of a licence or grant him a licence if otherwise qualified.

(2) The conditions under sub-section
(1) shall, among others, include the following, namely:

(i) The country of which the
applicant is citizen, grants reciprocal facilities to Indian nationals:

Provided that it shall not apply
where the central government considers that reciprocal facilities are not necessary;

(ii) The applicant is above the age
of 18 years.

The applicant is holder of an appropriate category of
amateur station operator's certificate or licence issued by a competent authority in any
other country and recognised by the central government.

The licence under this rule shall be initially granted
for a period of one year or for the period of validity of visa, for which the applicant's
passport is endorsed, whichever is less, on payment of a proportionate licence fee as
prescribed in Rule 12 subject to a minimum of fees payable of one year.

27. Penalty for breach of
these rules

Any breach of these rules, other than
a breach, which is an offence under section 20 or 21 of the Act, shall be punishable with
fine, which may extend-

(i) When the person is licenced under
the Act, to Rs.1000 and in the case of continuing breach a further fine of Rs.200 for
every day after the first during the whole or any part of which the breach continues;

(ii) When a servant of the person so
licenced or another person is punishable for the breach one fourth of the amounts
specified in clause (i).

28. Repeal and saving

(1) On the commencement of these
rules, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Amateur Service) Rules 1958, shall cease to be in
force,

(2) Notwithstanding such cesser-

(a) Where before such commencement
any person had passed the Amateur Station Operators Certificate Grade I or Grade II
Examination, such person shall not be required to pass any such examination under these
rules;

(b) Where, before such commencement
any person was granted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence Grade-I, or any such
Licence was renewed and the period for which such Licence was granted or renewed extends
beyond the commencement of these rules, then, such Licence shall continue to be in force
for the period specified in the licence.

Annexure I

CONDITIONS

FOR

THE CONDUCT OF

AMATEUR WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATION

[See rules 5 & 10]

1. Use of the Amateur Station

(1) The amateur station shall be used
as part of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations in radio
techniques solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest:

Provided that when the station is
licensed to an amateur radio society or club, or a school, college or an institute or a
University, the use of the station shall be confined to technical investigations and
training in radio communication techniques without pecuniary interest.

(2) The station may also be used for
the purpose of receiving transmissions in the standard frequency service to facilitate
operation of the station within the authorized frequency bands.

(3) Except as provided in these
rules, the licensee shall not assign, under-let or otherwise dispose of or admit any
person to participate in the benefits of the licence.

II. Messages

(1) (a) Radio communications may be exchanged with other stations similarly authorized.
The amateur stations are forbidden to communicate with amateur stations of countries whose
administrations have notified the International Telecommunication Union of their objection
to such radio communication.

(b) Transmissions shall be made in
plain language and limited to messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to
remarks of personal character (excluding business affairs or transactions) in which the
licensee, or the person with whom he is in communication, are directly concerned and for
which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public telecommunication service
is not justified.

(c) Special recordings for
reproducing sinusoidal tone or tones within the audio frequency spectrum that may be
either constant or steadily changing in frequency may be used.

(2) The licensee is forbidden
to transmit-

(a) Messages like the reproduction of
broadcast programmes or tape recordings or transmissions of entertainment value or music;

(b) False or misleading calls, or
signals, news, advertisements, communications of business, statements on topics of
political or industrial controversy;

(c) Superfluous signals or any matter
which is indecent or of obscene character or of a seditious tendency or which is grossly
offensive or such as is likely to arouse racial, religious, or communal animosity; and

(d) Messages for pecuniary reward or
any messages for, or on behalf of third parties;

(3) Notwithstanding clause (a),
sub-condition (1) and clause (d), sub-condition (2) the licensees in case of failure of
normal telecommunication facilities, are permitted to handle third party messages,
pertaining to natural calamities such as earthquake, flood, cyclones and wide spread
fires, originating from and addressed to a competent civil authority namely, (a) district
magistrates or deputy commissioners or collectors of the district and (b) any other
officer authorized by authorities mentioned at (a) above. The licensee shall inform by
letter addressed to the licensing authority regarding the use of his amateur station for
such purposes on each such occasion.

III. Frequencies, Emission and Power

The amateur station shall be operated
on frequencies that are within the frequency bands authorized to respective categories of
licences under rule 13 and on such classes of emissions and power not exceeding that
specified in the said rule.

IV. Frequency control and measurement

(1) The transmitting apparatus shall
be tuned as accurately as possible to ensure that no energy is radiated on any frequency
outside the limits of the authorized frequency bands.

(2) The licensee shall have at the
licensed amateur station a reliable frequency measuring equipment to verify, each time the
frequency of the transmitter is changed and whenever it is necessary to check the
transmitted frequency that emissions are within the authorized frequency bands. The
licensee shall take all steps necessary to maintain the accuracy of the frequency
measuring equipment.

V. Non-Interference

(1) The amateur station shall be so
designed, constructed, erected, maintained and worked as not to cause interference with
any wireless telegraph service functioning, within or without India, in accordance with
the provisions of the convention or the wireless signaling between any fixed, land or
mobile stations of Indian land, naval or air force or between such stations and any
station abroad:

Provided that in the event of
interference being caused by the station the licensee shall discontinue or restrict
transmissions, pending adjustment of the equipment, on request from-

(a) The Central Government; or

(b) Any land station.

(2) The licensee shall deploy all
necessary means to ensure that the radiated frequency in free from harmonics, key clicks,
hum and other forms of spurious emissions.

(3) The licensee shall ensure that the transmitter is
not over modulated.

(4) The use of class B emissions
(damped waves) is forbidden.

VI. Log (Diary of the radio service)

(1) A chronological record of all
transmissions emanating from or received at the amateur station shall be kept in bound
book (not loose leaf) showing the following:

(a) Date and time of each
transmission;

(b) A summary of the communications
exchanged;

(c) A brief description of the
experiments and tests undertaken;

(d) The call-sign of station or
stations with which messages have been exchanged, times of establishing and terminating
communication with each station and the frequency and type of emission employed in each
case:

(e) Time of opening and closing down
the amateur station;

(f) In case of portable or mobile
amateur station the particulars of temporary location.

(2) All times in the log shall be
stated in the Indian Standard Time.

(3) No gaps shall be left between
entries in the long and they shall be made and initialed at the time of receiving and
transmitting.

(4) In case the station is operated
by a person other than the licensee (see rule 23), the licence shall ensure that log is
signed by that person indicating his name, call-sign and licence number.

(5) Licensee shall preserve the log
for a period of one year from the date of last entry therein before it is destroyed:

Provided that no log shall be
destroyed for such further period as the Central Government may direct.

(6) The form of log is shown in the
Table attached to these conditions.

VII. Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus

(1) The amateur station shall be
equipped for reception as well as transmission except in the case of Short Wave Listeners
Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence when it shall be equipped for the former only.

(2) The wireless telegraphy apparatus
and other accessory equipment used or intended to be used by the licencee shall be so
arranged as not to endanger the safety of licensee or other persons.

(3) The wireless telegraph apparatus
shall be kept in a safe condition and housed in such manner as to preclude access to
unauthorized persons.

(4) The transmitter shall be of a
type that has frequency stability comparable to that of a crystal control.

(5) Meters of standard accuracy shall
be installed to measure the D.C. power input to the anode circuit of the final radio
frequency stage of the transmitter.

(6) The aerial used or intended to be
used shall be so erected, fixed, or placed a not to cross above or fall on to any power,
telegraph or telephone line. If required, the licensee shall take necessary steps to
guard, to the satisfaction of the owner or owners concerned, so as to prevent any damage
being done in the event of a break occurring in the aerial. The aerial installation shall
not cause hazard to flight of aircraft and their heights shall be within the limits
specified by the Director General of Civil Aviation in India from time to time. The
licensee shall, if so directed, install and maintain beacon lights on and paint the mast
of the station at his own cost.

VIII. Secrecy of Correspondence

If any message which the licensee is
not entitled to receive is, nevertheless received, the licencee shall into make known or
allow to be made known its contents, its origin or destination, its existence or the fact
of its receipt to any person (Other than duly authorized officer of the Central Government
or a competent of legal tribunal) and shall not reproduce in writing, copy or make any use
of such message or allow the same to be reproduced in writing, copied or made use of.

IX. (1) General Radiotelegraph and
Radiotelephone Procedure

(a) Before transmitting, the station
shall take precautions to ensure that its emissions will not interfere with transmissions
already in progress. If such interference is likely the transmission shall not commence
till there is an appropriate break in the communications in progress.

(b) The call sign endorsed in the
licence shall be sent for identification at the beginning and at the end of each period of
transmission. When the period of transmission exceeds 10 minutes the call sign shall be
repeated. Licencee shall not make transmission without identification or with false
identification.

(c) Prolonged calls and transmissions
shall be avoided.

(d) When it is necessary to spell out
call sign, certain expressions, difficult words, abbreviations, figures etc., the phonetic
alphabet and figure code given in the Convention shall be used.

(2) Call and Reply Procedure

(a) The call shall consist of The
call sign of the station called not more than three times; The word DE (in case of
radiotelegraphy) and the words This is (in case of radiotelephony) and the
call sign of the calling station, not more than three times.

(b) The reply to call shall consist
of the call sign of the calling station, not more than three times; The word DE (in case
of a radiotelegraphy) and the words This is (in case of radiotelephony) the
call sign of the station called, not more than three times.

(c) The call may be sent three times
at intervals of two minutes; thereafter it shall not be repeated until an interval of 10
minutes during which the operator shall list in the frequency band in which the call has
been made.

(d) In case of general call to all
stations the signal CQ (in case of radiotelegraphy) and the words Hello
all stations or the signal CQ (in case of radiotelephony) shall replace
the call sign of the station called in the calling procedure.

(3) End of Transmission and
Work

(a) Transmissions of a message shall
be terminated by the signal AR (in case of radio, telegraphy) and by the word
Over (in case of radiotelephony).

(b) The end of work between two
stations shall be indicated by each of them by means of the signal VA (in case of
radiotelegraph) and by the word OUT (or VA spoken as Victor Alfa) in case of
radiotelephony.

(4) Tests:

(a) When it is necessary to make test
signals either for the adjustment of a transmitter or a receiver or for any experiment,
such signals shall not be continued for more than 3 seconds and shall be composed of
series of VVV followed by the call-sign of the station emitting the test signals. In case
of radiotelephony series of VVV shall be replaced by the figures 1,2,3,4... spoken in the
figure code.

(c) Emission of carrier wave is
forbidden unless such wave is subjected to intelligible modulation.

X. Inspection

(1) Any officer authorized by the
Central Government in that behalf in writing by them, may at all reasonable times enter
the station solely or jointly with any other person or persons for the purpose of
inspecting and may inspect, examine or test any apparatus conduct of such inspections and
tests and make available the licence, the station log or other records for examination by
the inspecting officer.

(2) The licencee when called upon to
do so by the Central Government shall arrange to forward the licence, the logbook, or any
other record or date for examination by that Government.

XI. Powers to take possession of the
Amateur Station and to order interception of message:

(1) On the occurrence of any public
emergency, or in the interest of the public safety, the Central Government or a State
Government or any officer specially authorized in this behalf by the Central Government or
a State Government may, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, take
temporary possession (for so long as the public emergency exists or the interest of the
public safety requires the taking of such action) of the Amateur Station.

(2) On the occurrence of any public
emergency or in the interest of the public safety, the central government or a State
Government or any officer specifically authorized in this behalf by the Central Government
or a State Government may, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do in the
interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly
relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the
commission of an offence, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct that any
message of class of messages relating to any particular subject, shall not be transmitted
or received or shall be intercepted by the station or shall be disclosed to the Government
making the order or an officer thereof mentioned in the disclosed to the Government making
the order or an officer thereof mentioned in the order.

(3) The licencee shall not be
entitled to any compensation in respect of the exercise of the powers conferred by sub
condition (1) and (2) of this condition.

XII. The licencee shall indemnify the
Central Government against all actions, claims and demands which may be brought or made by
any person, body corporate or company in respect of any injury arising from any act
licenced or permitted by the licence.

XIII. A copy of the Indian Wireless
telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 shall be kept at the Amateur Station.

Frequency & Type of Emission
& power input to final stage (FEP) Station Called byStation heard or worked (RST)Report
Received (RST)Time of Termi-nating QSOTime of Record Experimen /td>

ANNEXURE II

Under the above rules, a licence may be
granted, subject to certain conditions to a person, who is a citizen of India and not less
than 18 years of age (subject to relaxation indicated at para 1 below) and who qualifies
Amateur Station Operators's Examination Certificate of Proficiency issued by this Ministry
i.e. (I) Radio Communication operator's GeneraLl Certificate; (ii) First or Second Class
Radio Telegraph Operator's Certificate; (iii) The holder of a special radio telegraph
Operator's Certificate may also be considered eligible for the award of Grade II licence.

The central government may grant to bonafide
experimenters between the agees of 14 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station
Licenc Grade I and to those between the ages of 12 and 18 years, Amateur Wireless
Telegraph Station Licence Grade II, Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence
or Shortwave Listeners Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence.

The examination for the award of various
categories of Amateur Wireless Telegraph Statoin Licence are held at various Monitoring
Stations of this ministry, as per the syllabus contained in the above mentioned rules. A
person desiring to appear in these examinations should apply on the prescribed application
form (enclosed) to the nearest monitoring station along with the prescribed examination
fee. In no case the application may be forwarded to WPC, Ministry of Communications, New
Delhi.

The examination fee varies from Rs. 10/- to
Rs.25/- depending upon the category of examination. After a decision is taken to grant the
licence, an additional fee of Rs. 25/- to Rs.50/- as the case may be, will be required
towards the grant of licence. The fees are required to be paid in the form of bank draft
obtainable from any branch of the State Bank of India and drawn in favour of Pay &
Accounts Officer (Headquarters), Department of Telecommunication, New Delhi 110001 (code
0691).

The particulars of the venue and date, etc.
of the examination will be communicated to the candidates by the officer-in-charge of the
concerned monitoring station on receipt of the complete application form with requisite
fee.

2 copies of photograph duly signed on front side. The size of
the photograph must be 3x4 cms.

Examination fees, in the form of bank draft, of the
appropriate amount. The draft should be obtained from any branch of State bank of India
and drawn in favour of 'Pay & Accounts Officer (Headquarters), Department of
Telecommunications'. It should be payable at State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch
(Code No. 0691).

Result Sheet, duly filled in (in duplicate).

Personal particulars (in quadriplicate) in the prescribed
proforma.

APPLICATION FROM AN INDIVIDUAL FOR A LICENCE
TO ESTABLSISH, MAINTAIN AND WORK AN AMATEUR WIRELESS TELEGRAH STATION IN INDIA.

5. (a) Category of Licence applied for
(b) exact location of the Station

6. (a) If you are exempted from appearing in
any part of the examination, give details of your qualifications

(b) If you wish to appear for the qualifying
examination, give the preferred centre and date of examination

Centre
Month of
Examination

(c) Do you hold any other licence earlier,
if so give details

Licence No._____________________Call-sign,
if any____________________

(Duly filled in application form should be
submitted to the concerned Wireless Monitoring Station only)

DECLARATION

I hereby solemnly declare that the foregoing
facts are true and correct and nothing is false therein and nothing material has been
concealed therefrom. I also agree that in case any information given by me herein before
is found false at a later date, the licence, if granted, will be cancelled.

I further solemnly give an undertaking that
I will not either directly or indirectly divulge to any person, except when lawful
authorized or directed to do so, the purport of any message which I may transmit or
receive by means of any wireless apparatus operated by me or which may come to my
knowledge in connection with the operation of said apparatus.

I have carefully read and understood the
rules contained n the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 and
undertake to abide by them and observe the conditions of the licence. The licensed station
shall not be made accessible to any unauthorized person at any time.

Signature of witness: Signature of applicant

Name (in block letters) Name (in block
letters)

Address:

Date: Date:

Place:

Note :

An attested copy of birth certificate or school leaving
certificate must be accompanied along-with the application.

Enclose a certificate in support of nationality in the
prescribed Performa, indicated in Appendix III from one of the officers listed therein.

ANNEXURE III

APPLICATION FOR A LICENCE TO ESTABLISH,
MAINTAIN AND WORK AN AMATEUR WIRELES TELEGRAPH STATION BY AN AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY OR CLUB
OR A SCHOOL, COLLEGE OR AN INSTITUTE OR A UNIVERSITY IN INDIA

(See rules 6 & 8)

1. Name and address of the Amateur Radio
Society/Club/School/Institute etc.

2. Particulars of authorized official of the
Society/Club/School etc. in whose favour licence is desired

Name Designation

Date of Birth Place of BirthNationalityOccupation

3. (a) Category of licence applied for (b)
exact location of the station

4. Particulars of Amateur Wireless Telegraph
Station Licence held by the authorized official

Category of Licence Licence No. Date
of Issue

5. Particulars of the Amateur Radio Society
or club, school etc.

(a) If registered, given its particulars:

(b) In case of school, college or institute,
give the name of Board or University by which it is recognized.

(c) Give in brief its aims and objectives:

(d) If affiliated to any radio amateur
organization, give its particulars:

(e) Give the names of office bearers:

(f) Mode of operation of the station
including its normal hours of working :

I hereby solemnly declare that the foregoing
facts are true and correct and nothing is false therein and nothing material has been
concealed therefrom. I also agree that in case any information given by me herein before
is found false at a later date, the licence, if granted, will be cancelled.

I further solemnly give an undertaking that
I will not either directly or indirectly divulge to any person, except when lawful
authorized or directed to do so, the purport of any message which I may transmit or
receive by means of any wireless apparatus operated by me or which may come to my
knowledge in connection with the operation of said apparatus.

I have carefully read and understood the
rules contained n the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 and
undertake to abide by them and observe the conditions of the licence. The licensed station
shall not be made accessible to any unauthorized person at any time.

Note :

1. An attested copy of birth certificate or
school leaving certificate must be accompanied along with the application.

2. Enclose a certificate in support of
nationality in the prescribed Performa, indicated in Appendix III from one of the officers
listed therein.

3. Attach a copy of the rules and
regulations or constitution.

4. Attach the minutes of the relevant
meeting.

ANNEXURE IV

Licence No. [See rule 9]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICAITON

LICENCE TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND WORK AN
AMATEUR WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATION IN INDIA.

Having satisfied, by examination or
otherwise, that Shri .................................... possesses the requisite
technical qualifications as prescribed under the Indian, Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur
Service) Rules, 1978, the Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred under the
authority of section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885), hereby grant to him
an ................................................... to establish, maintain and work a
wireless telegraph transmitting and receiving station, detailed below, during the term of
period commencing on the day of the date hereof and terminating on the
.......................19 ................. when this licence becomes invalid unless
renewed further by way of a document showing the renewal of Licence.

The licence is governed by the Indian
Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978, Particulars of the Station :

Location Call-sign

Issued by the Government of India in the

Ministry of Communication

New Delhi :

Dated :

Deputy/Assistant Wireless

Adviser to the Govt. of India

Signature of Licencee

Signed by the Licencee

in the presence of
............................. Date ....................................

In pursuance of the provisions of rule 13 of
the Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 the Central Government hereby
authorises the following frequency bands, emission and power to the holder of Amateur
Wireless Telegraph Station Licence. This supercedes the frequency bands, emission and
power prescribed in the Annexure-V to the above said rules in pursuance to Notification
No, R-11014/14/82-L.R. dated 23rd May, 1983.

25 Watts for terrestrial service. Amateur Satellite Service is permitted in the
appropriate sub-bands in accordance with Radio Regulations and in those cases the maximum
output RF power (e.i.r.p.) is 30 dbw.

50 Watts for terrestrial service. Amateur
Satellite Service is permitted in the appropriate sub-bands in accordance with Radio
Regulations and in those cases the maximum output RF power (e.i.r.p.) is 30 dbw.

* On primary shared basis as per the relevant provisions of Radio Regulations.

$ The authorisation is on non-interference and
non-protection basis.

@ On secondary basis as per the relevant provisions of Radio
Regulations.

& 1260-1270 MHz for Earth to space satellite service
only.

The above authorisation is subject to site clearance as per
the procedure prescribed by the Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation
(SACFA) as applicable.

Note: (i) Following sub-bands of frequencies are
authorised with enhanced R.F. power to holder of Advanced Amateur Telegraph Station
Licence

3520-3540 kHz

3890-3900 kHz

7050-7100 kHz

14050-14150 kHz

14220-14320 kHz

21100-21400 kHz

All emissions as
authorised

400 Watts

For A3F emission, the transmission shall be
restricted to call-sign of the station, location and other particular of the amateur
station. They shall be limited to point to point test transmission employing a standard
interlace and scanning with a bandwidth not more than 4 kHz.

DC input power is the total direct current power
input to the final stage of the transmitter.

In case of Short Wave Listeners Amateur Licence, the
holders are permitted to listen to all the bands authorised to Amateur Service.

The syllabus for the examination of the Restricted Amateur
Wireless Telegraph Station Licence shall be same as per Part I of Amateur Station
Operators Grade II examination.

The holder of Amateur Wireless
Telegraph Station Licence, Grade II shall be entitled for authorisation of radio telephony
emission on his providing proof of having made 100 contacts with other Amateurs using

Ham radio is one of the few hobbies in the
world, which requires a government licence. To obtain the licence, one has to go through a
course as per the syllabus devised by the communication authority to be equipped with an
optimum amount of knowledge and proficiency which is necessary to communicate using a
wireless transceiver without causing interference to the other radio communication
services and as per agreements set up at the international communication meetings. The
course covers basic electronic radio theories as well as the existing national and
international rules related to amateur radio communication in radiotelephony (voice) and
radio telegraphy (Morse Code).The person who wants to become a ham should at the same time
be able to show his proficiency in Morse Code sending and receiving. The Amateur Radio
Operator's Certificate is awarded by the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing of
the Ministry of Communication, New Delhi. The examination is conducted at the Wireless
Monitoring Stations located throughout the country. The examination is held for four
different categories of licence. They are the :

Advanced Grade Licence

Grade I Licence

Grade II Licence

Restricted Grade Licence.

Anyone above 12 years of age can obtain
Amateur Radio Station Operators Licence after passing the examination/s mentioned
above. It is also possible to establish an Amateur Radio Club Station with a licenced ham
in charge of it.

The application form for Amateur Radio
Station Operator's Certificate Examination can be obtained from :

The Assistant Wireless Advisor to the Govt.
of India,

Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC)
Wing,

Ministry of Communications, Dak Bhavan,

Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001

The filled-in Application Form along with
all other necessary documents should be sent to the Wireless Monitoring Station located
nearest to your home town or where you wish to appear for the examination.

SECTION I :

Radio Theory and Practice (Applicants
holding degree in telecommunication, or electronics and electrical communication, or a
degree recognized by the central government as equivalent to the above degree shall be
exempted from appearing in SECTION I of the test).

SECTION II :

National and International regulations
applicable to the operation of amateur radio station and those relating to the working of
station generally.

Part II - Morse Code

(i) Morse code receiving (ii) Morse code
sending

Detailed syllabus

Section I : Radio Theory and Practice

Elementary electricity and magnetism :

Elementary theory of electricity, conductors
and insulators, units, Ohm's law, resistance in-series and parallel, conductance, power
and energy, permanent magnets and electromagnets and their use in radio work; self and
mutual inductance; types of inductors used in receiving and transmitting circuits,
capacitance; construction of various types of capacitors and their arrangements in series
and/or parallel.

The written examination for Grade II licence
is of one hours duration. The maximum number of marks is 100. Candidates must secure at
least 40 per cent in each section and 50 per cent in aggregate to pass. The syllabus for
Grade I licence is the same as that for Grade II licence, but the written examination for
Grade I licence is of two hours duration. The maximum number of marks is 100 and
candidates must secure at least 50 per cent in each section and 55 per cent in aggregate
for a pass.

PART II : MORSE CODE

(a) Section I : Morse receiving (Speed: 5
words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain
language passage of 125 letters, five letters counting as one word. Candidates are
required to receive for five consecutive minutes at the speed of 5 words per minute from a
double headgear headphone receiver, international Morse code signals from an audio
frequency oscillator keyed either manually or automatically. A short practice piece may be
sent at the prescribed speed before the start of the actual test. Candidates will not be
allowed more than one attempt in each test. The test may be written in ink or pencil but
must be legible. Bad handwriting and over-writing will render a candidate liable to
disqualification. More than five errors will disqualify a candidate.

(b) Section 2 : Morse Sending (Speed: 5
words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain
language passage of 125 letters, five letters counting as one word. Candidates are
required to send on an ordinary key for five consecutive minutes at the minimum speed of
five words per minute. A short practice piece may be allowed before the actual test.
Candidates will not be allowed more than one attempt in the test. Efforts should be made
to correct all errors. However, more than five uncorrected errors will disqualify a
candidate. The accuracy of signaling, correct formation of characters and the correctness
of spacing shall be taken into account.

A candidate is required to pass both in Part
I and Part II. In the case of candidates qualifying in Part I only, the licence shall be
restricted to radiotelephone operations in the VHF ham band only.

Morse Code test for Grade I :

Receiving-(Speed: 12 words per minute)

The test piece will consist of a plain
language passage of 300 characters which may comprise letters, figures and punctuation
(punctuation are indicated below). The average words shall contain five characters and
each figure and punctuation will be counted as two characters. Candidates are required to
receive for five consecutive minutes at a speed of 12 words per minute. Other conditions
are the same as applicable to Grade II Examination.

The test piece will be similar to Morse
receiving test. Candidates are required to send for five consecutive minutes at a speed
not less than 12 words per minute. Other conditions are the same as applicable to Grade II
examination.

A candidate is required to pass both in Part
I and Part II simultaneously.

Advanced Amateur Station Operators'
Examination

Part I-Written Test

(a) Section 1: Radio Theory and Practice

In addition to the syllabus prescribed for
Grade II Examination, following items shall be included in the syllabus of Advanced
Amateur Station Operators' Examinations :-

(i) Motors and generators: Elementary
principles and construction of alternators, motors and generators.

(vii) Transmitters and receivers: Elementary
principles of transmission and reception of facsimile and television signals, elementary
principles of transmitters and receivers employing single side band.

(viii) Propagation: Characteristics of
ionosphere and troposphere. Properties of different reflecting layers, optimum working
frequency, day and night frequencies.

(ix) Aerials: Principles of radiation,
aerials for different frequency bands including aerials for microwave.

Syllabus is same as prescribed for Grade II
Examination. The test is of 3 hours duration. The maximum number of marks is 100 and
candidate must secure at least 50 per cent in each section and 60 per cent in aggregate
for a pass.

Part II- Morse Code

Syllabus is same as prescribed for Grade I
Examination.

Amateur Radio is a noble hobby without any pecuniary
intention. This web site is also a purely non-commercial venture with an aim to
popuarize ham radio in India. It has been noticed that there is very
little awareness about the fascinating hobby of amateur radio (ham radio) in
India and more specifically about the Indian Wireless Telegraphs Amateur Service Rules. To
spread an awareness about this noble scientific venture and to enable ham radio
enthusiasts to appear for the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate Examination,
I have decided to keep an 'electronic copy' of 'The Indian Wireless
Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978' in the web server of Al Waller, K3TKJ who
is freely hosting my site. So this document is for viewing
through the Internet only which obviously does not imply an authorisation
to take a printout . You should obtain the printed version from a Govt. of India
publication. Accuracy in this electronic copy is not assured by me!